Ranking the Indiana Pacers Guards for the Future

Every position in the NBA holds value, but having an elite guard can make or break a team. Thankfully for the Indiana Pacers, they have arguably one of the strongest guard groups in the NBA. With Tyrese Haliburton set to comeback from his Achilles injury, and Andrew Nembhard using last season without Haliburton to grow into a stronger lead ball handler, this group is not only ready to compete at the highest level next season, but for years to come.

Today, I want to look at how I view the guards currently on the Pacers roster and how they fit into this team long-term. I will rank them from 1-6 in order of most important to the future of the Pacers team. The guards I will be discussing: Tyrese Haliburton, Quenton Jackson, Kam Jones, T.J. McConnell, Andrew Nembhard, and Ben Sheppard.

1. Tyrese Haliburton

This should not come as a surprise to anyone. Tyrese Haliburton is the face of the franchise, the league’s best table setter, and an elite performer when the stakes are the highest. The only thing holding Tyrese Haliburton back is the uncertainty of his leg injuries.

Since joining the Pacers, Haliburton has missed multiple games with injuries to his ankle, groin, calf, knee, hamstring, and Achilles. While minimal, he also has missed games due to injuries to his hip and back, as well as a bout with shingles. When healthy, Haliburton plays at an All-Star-All-NBA level, but the injuries cannot be overlooked.

Moving forward, the Pacers will need to monitor the amount of wear and tear he puts on his body throughout the season, and find the right ways to properly manage his minutes. He is the key driving force to the Pacers success, and health is priority number one.

As an elite shooter, scorer, passer, and student of the game, Haliburton will make any and everyone around him better, and can be Superman when the time calls for it. His success has granted him some of the greatest opportunities throughout his young career, but he’s earned every bit of success he’s achieved. With a team-first mentality, and establishing a culture of positivity, he has proven to be one of the most beloved teammates and one of the great young leaders in today’s NBA.

2. Andrew Nembhard

Every elite offensive player needs an equally elite defender next to them, and that is why Andrew Nembhard is one of the most important pieces to the future of the Indiana Pacers. His defensive instincts and basketball IQ are some of the best in the league, and his playoff track record highlights just how sensational of a two-way player he is.

While defense is his speciality, his offensive game is just as important to the success of the Pacers team. His secondary play making is one of the best in the NBA, and his ability to get downhill by using his upper body strength to dislodge defenders is an elite talent. Nembhard has also mastered the deceleration step when driving to the basket, slowing down on a dime and allowing himself to get a better look and throw his defender’s timing off. As a three-point shooter, Nembhard has hit some o the toughest shots in the playoffs, but has not been a great outside shooter in his career.

Defensively, Nembhard’s ability to get skinny on screens and stay with his opponents makes it hard for teams to screen their best players free from “Nembhell”. If a player is off-ball, Nembhard will stick to them like glue and make them work tirelessly for every shot and point. With the high IQ he possess, he has mastered pulling the chair on players, causing them to lose their balance and turn the ball over.

He is also an underrated trash talker that becomes an irritant throughout a playoff series, getting under his opponents skin, just like he did to Jalen Brunson in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, causing Brunson to headbutt him. At just 26 years old, Nembhard is just entering into his prime and should be a main staple for the Pacers for the next several years.

3. Ben Sheppard

The 26th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft has given the Pacers solid minutes off the bench throughout his career, and was a part of the Pacers playoff rotation in his first two seasons with the team. While his game is nowhere perfect, he is a solid bench player who understands the Pacers’ system, has grown in every area of his game, and is coming off the best three-point shooting season of his career.

Sheppard will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2027, and could be a perfect low-cost extension option for the Pacers. Finding solid role players who can defend and shoot off the bench at a team friendly price is important in the modern NBA. With the first and second aprons limiting how teams can make roster moves, finding smart players who fit your system on cheaper deals is vastly important. Sheppard isn’t great at any one skill, but could be a valuable piece to this team’s future.

4. T.J. McConnell

Feb 2, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell (9) reacts in the second half against the Houston Rockets at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

McConnell is clearly more important to the Pacers current iteration of the team than Ben Sheppard, but when projecting this roster’s future, he becomes less important. At 34 years old, McConnell is still as consistent as they come, but it is hard to envision him playing at this level 3-4 years from now.

He is a master of the backcourt steal and the pull-up jumper while driving to the basket. The majority of his game is predicated on hard play, speed, and great instincts. With how he’s been able to defy the odds throughout his career, I expect McConnell will age gracefully and still be valuable past these two seasons.

If his three-point shot improved closer to league average, his career could last longer, as shooting is a skillset that doesn’t require a quick burst of speed. Either way, McConnell’s future with the Pacers could turn into a deeper bench role as a third-string point guard, but having that type of veteran on the team brings significant importance. The Pacers organization would love to keep McConnell around as long as they can, and it appears that McConnell feels similarly about the organization.

5. Quenton Jackson

The Pacers like Quenton Jackson a lot, as they promoted him from a two-way contract to a standard one. He is a scrapper that has had to scratch and claw his way to make it to the NBA, but Rick Carlisle hit the nail on the head when he told Jackson that getting the standard contract was reaching the top of one mountain, but now he has to start climbing the next one to reach higher levels.

Jackson has a small sample size of being able to perform in big moments, but seeing him perform well a handful of times last season gives you the belief that there is more there. He has two standout games last season, one agains the Warriors and one against the Knicks. Against Golden State, he scored a career high 25 points, where he went 5-5 in the fourth quarter to score 12 points, all while playing lockdown defense on Steph Curry (who went 8-23 for the game and 4-16 from three). Then against New York, Jackson scored 7 of the Pacers 13 points in overtime to silence the Garden with a 137-134 victory.

The flashes have been there, but the highs haven’t been sustained. His role with the team is a third string guard that can fill in when needed, which makes him somewhat important to the team, but it doesn’t mean he fits into their long-term plans.

6. Kam Jones

After playing just 37 games in his rookie season, the future seems cloudy for Jones. He is 24 years old, and was selected in the early part of the second-round of the NBA Draft, but never got his footing in his rookie season.

Before he hit the floor, he suffered a severe back injury that held him out until December 22, 2025, and during that injury rehab period, he was arrested for going 90 MPH in a 55 MPH zone while erratically changing lanes. To fully guarantee his contract for the 2026-27 season, Jones needed to play in 41-games for the Pacers this season, but the team elected to hold him out of enough games that he wouldn’t reach that number.

This upcoming Summer League will be of significant importance to Jones as he looks to prove he’s grown from year one, and is someone the Pacers want to invest further into. With the team wanting to win a championship in the next two seasons, Jones is taking up a roster spot that the Pacers might want to upgrade.

If Jones is unable to prove that he is more than just an undersized two trying to play the one, who isn’t a good outside shooter (shot 29% from three this season), and only goes left when driving, it’s likely his days are numbered as a Pacer.

Final Thoughts

The Pacers clearly have elite guards at the top of this list in Haliburton and Nembhard, but could look to bolster the depth of their guard spot two years from now with McConnell getting older.

You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.

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